Jaguar repairs were found to cost an average of nearly �500

A study by insurers Warranty Direct put Jaguar 26th out of 27 for reliability, based on the number of breakdowns and the average cost of repair.

It is the latest blow for the luxury car firm, which blamed poor US sales for its recent decision to stop making Jaguars at Browns Lane in Coventry.

Land Rover, another Ford-owned UK firm, also fared poorly in the study.

The Far East is still home to the most reliable and cost-effective manufacturers in the world Duncan McClure Fisher Warranty Direct

It came 24th in the list and bottom of a separate index, which was based only on the number of breakdowns per 100 vehicles.

Mazda came top of both indexes and was rated the most reliable car for the second year in a row, with Honda second, Hyundai third and Ford fourth.

Jeep was rated the least reliable manufacturer, also for the second year in a row.

The average cost of repairing vehicles featured in the study was �321.82, with Jaguar repairs averaging �483.26.

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Duncan McClure Fisher of Warranty Direct said: "The Far East is still home to the most reliable and cost-effective manufacturers in the world.

"Encouragingly, despite the lowly positions of Land Rover and Jaguar, British workers are well-represented in the top 10, with Honda, Toyota and Peugeot all building models at plants over here."

The vehicles surveyed had done an average of 46,500 miles and were mostly four or five years old.